The fossil fuels (i.e. coal, natural gas, Petroleum etc) energy resources are getting depleted rapidly and their availal will reduce progressively during the coming decades. The scientist and Engineers have identified alternative intermediate energy sources. Hydrogen is the fuel under active consideration for intermediate energy form for transportation & storage and conversion to secondary form. Hydrogen Transportation system or hydrogen economy is presently in conceptual planning and project management stage.Hydrogen is used as a fuel for fuel ¢ The primary energy source of hydrogen may be water, natural gas, coal, petroleum and biomes. The secondary energy use of hydrogen may be heat, Electricity or chemical energy. Melting temperature is -259.2 degrees Celsius and boiling tomperature -252.76 degrees Celsius. In this interval, hydrogen is a colourless liquid without any smell. At high pressure, snowdike crystals of solid hydrogen are form. In special conditions, hydrogen is capable of moving toa metal state. Hydrogen is insoluble in water, so it can be obtained in the laboratory by the waterIt is a “ Clean fuel”. Combustion product is water which does not produce pollution (H2+1/2 028H20+ Energy). Hydrogen can be produced by different alternate methods. Hydrogen can be produced from water, fossil fuels , biomes etc. Therefore supply of hydrogen will be abundant. So it is a source of renewable energy. Hydrogen has high energy density as compered to natural gas. Hydrogen can be transported by high pressure pipeline system. (Presently this method is not economically competitive to electrical energy transport or natural gas pipeline transport)Hydrogen is being produced commercially from several Quantity of hydrogen required per day. Availability and cost of row material. Purity of Hydrogen required. Uses of by-product: Energy input per kg of H2 produced. Energy efficiency of process. or Cy rr)The most common hydrogen production process are as. under:This method is preferred when cheap electric power, ample lable & high purity hydrogen is desired. Purity of . Direct current is passed through water. Small quantity of alkali or acid is added to water make the electrolyte conducting. Temperature of cell is maintained around 70° C. ‘Temperatures of 550°C to 800°C are used. . Steam of water is passed over hot sponge iron sheets. Iron reacts with water to give ferric oxide & hydrogen and CO, CO,, The gases are passed through scrubber with dilute NaQH to remove CO and CO,.Hydrogen can be extracted from ammonia, first by using a catalyst to help decompose the ammonia molecule into a mixture of nitrogen and hydrogen gas. . Subsequently, the hydrogen membrane allows hydrogen to pass through it while blocking any other gas. Synthesis gas, a mixture of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and a small amount of carbon dioxide, is created by reacting natural gas with high-temperature steam. The carbon monoxide is reacted with water to produce additional hydrogen, . This method is the cheapest, most efficient, and most common. Natural gas reforming using steam accounts for the majority of hydrogen produced in the United States annually.In the past, hydrogen containing refinery off gas (ROG) has been routed into the refinery fuel gas system where only the heating value of the gas has been used. . Since the hydrogen demand for refinery operations is growing, these gases become more and more attractive as a source for hydrogen production 5, i Natural gas reforming is an advanced and mature production process that builds upon the existing natural gas pi delivery infrastructure. . Today, 95% of the hydrogen produced in the United States is made by natural gas reforming in large central plants. This is an important technology pathway for near-term hydrogen production.Natural gas contains methane (CH,) that can be used to produce hydrogen with thermal processes, such as steam-methane reformation and partial oxidation. In thermolysis, water molecules split into their atomic components hydrogen and oxygen. . For example, at 2200 °C about three percent of all H,O are dissociated into various combinations of hydrogen and oxygen atoms, mostly H, H., 0, O,, and OH.6.3.1. Hydrogen Storage: There are five principle methods that have been considered for hydrogen storage are as under: 1) Compressed gas storage 2) Liquid storage (Cryogenic storage in vacuum insulated or super insulated storage tank) 3) Line pack system (allowing the pressure in transmission & distribution system to vary) 4) Underground storage (In depleted oil & gas fields or in aquifer systems) Storage as metal hydridesHydrogen is conveniently stored for many applications in igh pressure cylinders. This method is expensive and very bulky, because very large quantities of steel are needed to contain small amounts of hydrogen. . In conventional industrial hydrogen system, small amounts of hydrogen is needed but when hydrogen is considered as fuel, it is realized that tank storage of hydrogen is not really a practical propos Hydrogen can be stored as liquid at a low temperature e. cryogenic storage) for large scale applications at low cost than compressed gas storage. For example the liquid hydrogen fuel used as rocket propellant in the space program is stored in large tanks.. Very large facilities for hydrogen ligification have been designed and built and large storage tanks have constructed . Liquid hydrogen boils at -253° C & therefore must be maintained at or below this temperature in storage unless pressure built up can be tolerated. |. The liquid hydrogen need to be store in vacuum-jacketed containers, as it is below the temperature at which air condenses on the surface and thus any air in the contact with the cold walls of the hydrogen container. The use of line pack storage in the natural gas industry provides a relatively small capacity storage system, but one ith very fast response time that can take care of minute by minute or hour by hour variation in demand .Ahydrogen transmission and distribution system running on hydrogen would have similar capability although the capacity would be reduced by a factor of about 3 because of the reduced heating value of hydrogen compared with natural gas. The cheapest way to store large amounts of hydrogen for subsequent distribution would be in underground facili to those used for natural gas. . These facilities would include depleted oil & gas reservoirs and aquifers.iderable interest has been shown recently in the possibility of storage of hydrogen in the form of a metal hydride. . A number of metals & alloys form solid compounds called metal hydrides, by direct reaction with hydrogen gas. . When hydride is heated, the hydrogen is released and original metal (alloys) is recovered for further use. ‘An important property of metal hydrides is that the pressure of gas released by heating a particular hydride depends on the temperature and not the composition. . At fixed temperature, the gas pressure remains essentially constant until the hydrogen content is almost exhausted. it appears that hydrides would of interest for stationary storage of hydrogen when the small volume is advantages. They might be lass useful for mobile storage on a light vehicle where the weight of the hydride is more relative to its hydrogen content.6.3.2. Hydrogen transportation: At present the long distant pipe lines of hydrogen is an operation that is carried out by only a specialized companies ferent parts of words. . Heating value of hydrogen is only 12.1 MJ/cu. m as compared to about 38.3MJ/cu. m for natural gas. This implies that to deliver the same quantity of energy, three times the volumes of hydrogen must be transmitted. . A number of metals lose their mechanical strength on exposure to hydrogen, this phenomenon is called as hydrogen embitterment which is specially significant for steel in hydrogen under pressure. |. Operating experience with common pipe line steels at pressures up to about 3.5 MPa has shown no problems of consequence.Hydrogen in bulk can be transported & distributed as li . Double walll insulated tanks of liquid hydrogen with capaci of 7000 gal (26.5 cu m) or more are carried out by road vehicles and up to 34000 gal (129 cu m) by rail road cars. Hydrogen can also be transported as a solid metal hydride. . The main draw back, as stated earlier is the weight of the hydride relative to its hydrogen content.6.4, Applications of hydrogen: Electricity for lighting and for operating domestic appliances (ie. Refrigerators, Acs etc) could be generated by means of fuel cells with hydrogen gas at one electrode and air at the other. . Hydrogen can be used for domestic cooking. The burners of gas stoves would have to .be modified if hydrogen were to replace natural gas. Because the heating value per unit volume of hydrogen gas is less than that of natural gas. So large volume would have to reach the burners to achieve the same heating effect. This problems can be overcome by changing the hole size of burners.There are many potential uses for hydrogen in industry, either as a fuel or a chemical reducing (ie oxygen removal) agent if the economics were favorable. . For example in several industrial process natural gas has been the most satisfactory source of heat. In hydrogen energy economy, hydrogen could replace natural gas in these operations. ad cles The use of hydrogen fuel in IC engines for automobiles ie cars, buses, tracks, and farm machinery has attracted interest as a means of conserving petroleum products & of reducing atmospheric pollution. Because of fuel is the gas, the conventional carburetor of SI which liquid gasoline is vaporized in air must be. In Cl engine, the hydrogen gas under pressure is injected through a valve directly into the engine cylinder & the air is admitted through another intake valve. Since the hydrogen & sd separately, an explosive mixture is not occur except in the cylinder. The engine power output is controlled by varying the pressure of hydrogen gas from about 14 atm low power to 70 atm at high power. The hydrogen is required to be stored as a compressed gas. The earliest application of liquid hydrogen fuel is expected to be in a jet air craft, this possibility was demonstrated in a subsonic air craft in 1957. The main advantage is the much lower overall weight of the fuel & storage tank than for ordinary jet fuel. . Ifa hypersonic aircraft (ie speed more than five times the local speed of sound) is ever developed , liquid hydrogen may be the only practical fuel,It is unlikely that hydrogen would serve as a major fuel for electric power generation by a utility. . However its substitution for natural gas in peak saving turbines is possible. Hydrogen could be also be used as a means for strong and distributing electrical energy.